Monday, December 20, 2004

Few Americans realize that right now in farmers' fields genetically altered corn and soybeans are producing drugs, hormones and industrial substances such as plastics. It may not seem like a problem until you realize that these could very easily mix with corn and soybeans grown for food. Worse yet, these so-called "pharma crops" could easily cross-pollinate with crops grown for food contaminating them with drug- and plastic-producing genes.

Six scientists who are members of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) have issued a report through the group calling for more stringent safety measures to keep the two kinds of crops apart at all times. The UCS did its own evaluation of the report and called for an immediate halt to all outdoor planting of pharma crops.

I addressed this issue briefly in a previous post in which the pro-GMOs scientists cited said that while GMO food crops were surely safe, pharma crops should only be grown inside of triple-locked facilities to prevent contamination.

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